ABAA-member Kenneth Gloss, an internationally known rare book specialist and appraiser who runs the Brattle Book Shop in Boston and appears on national TV, will speak at New York’s Grolier Club to talk about the "improbable finds" of his decades-long career. The presentation will take place on Thursday, October 5, 6:00 pm at The Grolier Club, 47 East 60th Street, New York, NY, and is open to the public.
As Ken reflects on the surprises he's experienced while bookselling: “One day you find yourself drinking from Thomas Jefferson’s coffee service, and the next day you’re fumigating your truck of fleas. The house you’re visiting could contain a handful of Turner watercolors, or a roomful of live ammunition.” His upcoming talk will cover spectacular finds, such as T. S. Eliot’s copy of The Great Gatsby and Isaac Newton’s copy of Principia Mathematica. On a particular occasion, Ken remembers, “a customer walked into the Brattle Book Shop with a Nuremberg Chronicle and a Kelmscott Chaucer!” And he’s experienced some unexpected challenges, too—when he was invited to look at “about 500” books, Ken instead encountered three floors of more than 20,000 nearly perfect dust-jacketed books that he simply had to buy (and figure out how to transport). The unusual and the extraordinary will abound in this illustrated lecture.
Ken will talk in part about the history of his historic bookshop (www.brattlebookshop.com/about...), which goes back to circa 1825. He is a second-generation owner. Ken will discuss growing up in the book business and explain how he appraises books and manuscripts. He has many fascinating anecdotes to share about private and institutional collecting as well as guidelines for building and maintaining a significant collection. There is also a Q&A session at the conclusion of his talk.
To register for the in-person event, please visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/in-person-lecture-a-booksellers-improbable-finds-tickets-664723103697?aff=oddtdtcreator. To register for the virtual event, please visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-lecture-a-booksellers-improbable-finds-tickets-719345239977?aff=ebdsoporgprofileNote. Grolier Club members should register themselves and their guests via the Club website, and not on Eventbrite.
Yankee Magazine Editor's Choice Award for Best of New England, the Brattle Book Shop is one of America’s oldest and largest antiquarian bookstores. 2023 is the 74th year of Gloss family ownership. Kenneth Gloss succeeded his late father, George Gloss, a well-known figure both in Boston and national antiquarian circles. He had worked in the store since childhood and chose to go into the book business rather than pursue a doctorate in chemistry. He became the sole proprietor upon his father's death in 1985. "I found that books were in my blood and that I would never be really happy if I abandoned the business."
Among the many organizations of which Kenneth Gloss is a member are the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America, the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, the New England Antiquarian Booksellers of America, the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Antiquarian Booksellers Association, the Committee for the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair and the Boston Society. He also is a Fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society as well as serving on the Board of Overseers of the USS Constitution Museum.
The Brattle Book Shop is proud to have been a contributor to the WGBH Annual Auction each year that the station has held this fund drive. Ken has appeared on national and local TV numerous times over the years and has been a popular guest on WBZ Radio as well as other radio, TV, and cable stations numerous times. His bylined articles continue to appear in various antique journals and in print and online consumer publications. The Brattle Book Shop is also the recipient of several “Best of Boston” awards in the categories of Best Book Shop or Best Antiquarian Book Shop. In addition, it has been included in a list as one of North America’s best bookstores.
For further information about this talk and more about book-collecting, appraisals, and future free and open talks, call the store toll-free at 800-447-9595, or visit their website, www.brattlebookshop.com... To learn of some of Ken’s more fun and unique finds, listen to Brattlecast, his new podcast: http://www.brattlebookshop.com/brattlecast... (also available on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/brattlecast/id1295728623?mt=2...).